Using Cell Phones in the Classroom

(Copyright at Education World, 2009)

Cell Phones are allowed in certain classrooms, what? When I was in high school I remember teachers were constantly getting after students for being on their cell phones and  now that I'm in college it's not uncommon to find lots of students texting on their cell phones during class. Cell phones have become so popular that most people have a cell phone and no longer have a house phone and they take their cell phone every where they go. A fifth grade teacher knew that allowing students to use cell phones instead of getting after them might not be a bad idea in the classroom as long as it was done in a way to facilitate student learning. He attended a conference in San Antonio and attended  every session that related to cell phones. He had the opportunity to talk to the experts about using cell phones in the classroom which gave him a plan. His plan was to build a partnership with a company that would help fund the program. The programs supported his project so every student received a cell phone to be used for educational purposes and Verizon agreed to support the project by giving them free service and Microsoft assisted with any software issues they were having. The fifth grade teacher and his students now use cell phones every day in the classroom to support learning. They have several programs on their cell phones such as: Go Know and Gaggle. These programs allow the students to: collaborate with one another, use Microsoft, Excel, PowerPoint, communicate, take pictures, and their is a drawing tool on their phones.The students also are able to use email on their phones, but they aren't able to call or text on the phones. I think this is a good idea because otherwise the students would most likely be texting more than learning the material, but yet it still makes learning fun for students by letting them do their work by using programs on a cell phone. I think that cell phones could be the future learning device for students because there are so many programs out there that can be used through a cell phone and you can assess thing on your cell phone anywhere, anytime which makes it easier for teachers/students. It's also less to have to carry around for students. I never thought that students would be using cell phones to enhance learning, did you?